 | Dr. Michael Esparza is the owner of Midtown Chiropractic Clinic, 1359 N. Market and Common Sense Chiropractic at 216 W. Main in Valley Center. A graduate of Cleveland Chiropractic College, he has been in the health care field for over 20 years, including 6 years in the military as a medic and 13 years as a paramedic on the K.C. fire department. He is a nationally certified Chiropractor and speaks Spanish, which he says is convenient for the Hispanic community. Contact Dr. Esparza at 316-269-2221, Wichita, 755-3333, Valley Center, or at drbonesesparza@hotmail.com. |
Health & Medicine
2003-10-01 08:27:00
What is Chiropractic?
: What is Chiropractic?
ANSWER: Chiropractic is a branch of the healing arts, which is based upon the understanding that good health depends in part upon a normally functioning nervous system (especially the spine, and the nerves extending from the spine to all parts of the body). "Chiropractic" comes from the Greek word ‘Chiropraktikos,’ meaning "effective treatment by hand." Chiropractic stresses the idea that the cause of many disease processes begins with the body's inability to adapt to its environment. It looks to address these diseases not by the use of drugs and chemicals, but by locating and adjusting a musculoskeletal area of the body, which is functioning improperly. The conditions that doctors of chiropractic address are as varied and as vast as the nervous system itself. All chiropractors use a standard procedure of examination to diagnose a patient's condition and arrive at a course of treatment. Doctors of chiropractic use the same time-honored methods of consultation, case history, physical examination, laboratory analysis and x-ray examination as any other doctor. In addition, they provide a careful chiropractic structural examination, paying particular attention to the spine. The examination of the spine to evaluate structure and function is what makes chiropractic different from other health care procedures. Your spinal column is a series of movable bones, which begin at the base of your skull and end in the center of your hips. Thirty-one pairs of spinal nerves extend down the spine from the brain and exit through a series of openings. The nerves leave the spine and form a complicated network which influences every living tissue in your body. Accidents, fall, stress, tension, overexertion, and countless other factors can result in a displacement or derangement of the bones in the spinal column known as vertebral subluxations, causing irritation to spinal nerve roots. These vertebral subluxations are often what cause malfunctions in the human body. Chiropractic teaches that reducing or eliminating these subluxations to the spinal nerves can cause your body to operate more efficiently and more comfortably. Chiropractic also places an emphasis on nutritional and exercise programs, wellness and lifestyle modifications for promoting physical and mental health. While chiropractors make no use of drugs or surgery, doctors of chiropractic do refer patients for medical care when those interventions are indicated. In fact, chiropractors, medical doctors, physical therapists and other health care professionals now work as partners in occupational health, sports medicine, and a wide variety of other rehabilitation practices. Chiropractic is one of America's fastest growing health care fields today. It has become the largest drugless health care profession in the world because it has helped millions of people recover from sickness, disease and disability by minimizing the use of drugs and surgery in their lives! In the November issue, we will discuss further, vertebral subluxations, and how it works.
